Ephemeral
by Akamori Uzumamein
Summary: [In response to brown phantom's challenge.] Naruto has managed with no eyes for thirteen years. But one day, while waiting for his team at the usual training grounds, he gets assaulted—and wakes up seeing humanity for the first time. [AU] [Warnings inside]
1. Gaudy

**Warnings: smart!cold!strong!Naruto, language, blood and possible implied scenes, no NaruHina (I think), plus possible harem.**

* * *

_Prologue: Gaudy_

* * *

Naruto has been blind his whole life. He tripped on a near-constant scale, always had to drag his hand along a wall, and always had to ask for help. Iruka Umino was kind enough to take him in, practically adopting the boy. He taught Naruto how to read using chakra, write, and even went as far as honing his sensory abilities. Because of that, he managed to graduate.

It was natural for Iruka to be a worrywart the first few days, especially when Naruto had to take the bell test. He was smarter than expected, as his sensory abilities bested Sasuke and Sakura's, elevating to high Chūnin level by graduation day.

Of course, partially the reason why he was so good at it was because of the bijū sealed within his soul. Iruka suspected that when Naruto spiked the Kyūbi's chakra while defeating Mizuki.

Kakashi Hatake was surely surprised. He had no idea that Naruto didn't have eyes, and managed to defeat him while also using the concept of teamwork. He was a prodigy in his own right.

They ended up passing, doing D-ranks for about a month or so before Naruto lost his monotone façade and shouted at Hiruzen Sarutobi and Iruka for giving them constant Ds instead of Cs. The team had gotten a C-rank—which turned into an A-ranked mission—before they returned home giddy and excited for a new mission.

They, however, got nothing. So instead, Kakashi—who was recovered completely by now—set up a training session solely for Team Seven, which leads to now.

Naruto was waiting patiently at the grounds. His face was in the direction of the horizon with the sun taunting it. He could feel its warmth. Now only if he could see it…

He sighed sharply. It was better to not think about it. What was the point of thinking about it if you can't even have it? The question would be asked by a small voice in the back of his head. He never really pondered or dwelled on it. He learned that it was best to just let it be.

He turned his head towards the gates when he suddenly felt a new and disturbingly powerful presence coming his way. He frowned. "This is a private training ground. Might I ask why you're here?"

The person walked faster, making Naruto rather nervous. "Let's just get over this," they said. Their voice was of a young man. He sounded irritated and short-tempered, and his voice was rather intimidating because of it.

The blonde Genin backed up, but couldn't move any further. His back was pressed against one of the standing logs. He snarled, about to say something; however, he was cut off before he could even start as the stranger put a cloth over his mouth, making the boy knock out the second he sucked in a tiny amount of mysterious brand of cyclopyrrolones.

* * *

_Konoha Hospital, late evening…_

* * *

Naruto hated operations. He had never been to one, but he sure as hell hated it due to hearing stories and rumors. Unlike the old people who wanted a heart transplant, he wanted to have his chest closed twenty-four-seven, thanks.

But this was a bit different. He felt something wet and warm on his face. It was spilling out of both his eyes, and he felt a terrible ache in his sockets. Something wasn't right; that much was obvious. He was bleeding from his eyes. But he had no eyes, so why was he bleeding?

He arrived back in reality when his left ear picked up the sound of someone snapping their fingers next to his face. His head tipped slightly towards the left, but he stopped. The sounds around him were disturbingly distant and muffled. Not to mention, his eyes really fucking hurt. Where the hell was his healing factor? The one everyone was scared shitless of?

Moments later, he felt himself get picked up bridal style by firm hands. But he honestly didn't care; he was tired, and he wanted to sleep but the pain and pinching in his eye sockets were rather annoying.

Naruto flinched this time; he felt a warm gloved hand that strongly smelled of antibiotics press against his eyelids. He slowly moved his arm up towards the hand, but was stopped abruptly by a gentle hand—a woman's hand, he concluded. The antibiotics were a give away. Was he in a hospital?

"…uto…er…e…" he heard a muffled voice say. His head tipped to the right, making the hand pull back. "…er…me…is…kashi…"

_Kakashi-sensei…_ Naruto mentally said. _Oh…_

"Naruto…u…er…th…cter?"

_What…_

"…ssing…ood…tion room ASAP."

Naruto sighed, turning his head towards the ceiling again. He couldn't hear them very well; all he knew was that Kakashi was there. His sensory skills were alarmingly dull at the moment as well, so he couldn't sense anyone else.

And speaking of senses, who the hell was the bastard that drugged him? He didn't know what he looked like. All he knew was presence and gender. It was disappointing, but a lot of things were disappointing, and currently there was no room for complaints.

He felt himself moving all of the sudden. He couldn't tell where he was going in all honesty; but something told him it would be the operation room. The hospital was never his favorite place, so it was only natural that he winced at least a little.

The blonde heard doors being rammed into before the assumed gurney stopped. He felt his shirt leave his body, the weird feeling of monitors being hooked up onto him. While that didn't bother him, it was the needles being stuck into his wrist that made him cringe; but it soon disappeared as the numbness settled in, heavy dreamless sleep following literally seconds later as the emergency operation commenced.

* * *

_One week later, mid day—Konoha Hospital…_

* * *

When Naruto woke up from his slumber, he expected to see pitch blackness. He didn't even expect to see anything with the minds eye. It was only natural that he freaked out when he felt something move against his eyelid. He flinched, quickly reaching up towards the gauze wrapped around his eyes, but stopped when he felt Kakashi's dim sleeping presence a foot or two away from what he assumed to be his hospital bed.

He turned his head towards the jōnin, causing a small but irritating headache forming.

Kakashi shifted, his eye opening from his light nap as he heard Naruto stir. He glanced at the boy. "So you've decided to wake up."

"…What happened?" he asked groggily.

"Sasuke found you at the training grounds knocked out. Your eyes were bleeding pretty badly. By the time he got me, you had a pool of blood surrounding you. Doctor said you lost nearly seventy precent of your blood by the time you arrived at the hospital," he explained. "What happened before that?"

"Someone drugged me," Naruto murmured. "Have no idea who he was…but he was powerful…"

"Well whoever he was, he put eyes in those empty eye sockets of yours," Kakashi stated. Naruto gaped, frozen in shock. "But Naruto, just because you have eyes doesn't mean you can—"

The blonde shot up, ignoring his sensei' words as he literally ripped the guaze off of his head. Kakashi's eye narrowed. He had a feeling this would happen…

Naruto's eyes fluttered open, making Kakashi narrow his own. The boy was quiet. The silence stretched for a rather long time, too. It actually kind of worried him. "Naruto?"

The Genin blinked, turning his new eyes toward his sensei. He stared at the Hatake for a rather long time, giving Kakashi time to study his new strange eyes. The outer iris was a dark icy blue, while more closer to the iris was a light icy blue, the outline curved and shaped like a flower. The pupil itself was an even blue. The stare alone was rather…gaudy. There was no other way to explain it. It was gaudy. That's all he could say to explain it.

Kakashi frowned. If this silence kept up, he'd probably have a mental fit, because Naruto was not acting like his usual self.

"…Your hair looks funny."

_…Never mind._ "I expected a bit more excitement," he commented. He smirked underneath his mask. "Cat got your tongue?"

"What? No," Naruto stated. "It's just shocking, that's all. I couldn't see anything my entire life. Can you imagine what that's like? Not being able to see?"

"Not really. But you should at least look excited," the Hatake mumbled. "Anyways, the doctor said that your brain has to get used to seeing lights and colors. He recommended that you take it easy. There is also the possibility of color blindness, so you'll be tested later today."

Naruto simply nodded. He looked around the room. It was oddly colered. He has heard that the hospital was a light color. Since when was "light" an inky blue-black?


	2. Bedlam

**I'm glad people are liking this. (Uchigawa: "Big words :p")**

**Samhain Ootsutsuki: There is a very strong chance of NaruHina near the end. I'm pretty sure it's gonna happen, considering my plans and all… :3**

**Reign O****f Sorrow: lol :3**

**thor94: You'll find out as the plot and story proceeds. :3**

**The Goddess of the Night: I had an odd liking too. Still do. But I'd like to call this unique, because this goes backwards :3**

**brown phantom: I'm never one to write fluffy romance scenes. The last time I did that was a long time ago. The real reason I avoid is because of the feels TT^TT guilty pleasure :3**

**(Uchigawa: "FUCKING KICK HIS ASS SETH!")**

* * *

_Chapter 1: Bedlam_

* * *

It was really strange, seeing everything. Naruto couldn't help but stare at everything. Especially himself. Iruka would find him staring at his reflection whilst he was in the hospital for another week.

Many ANBU were researching Naruto's possible dōjutsu under the command of Hiruzen. The elderly Sarutobi had a mental freak out; he was confused. Why would anyone, inside and outside of the village want to give a hated jinchūriki _power_? His only explanation was a Fūinjutsu Expert or a shinobi who understood—like another jinchūriki. He checked up with Jiraiya, the only seal expert known to the current shinobi world. He hadn't done anything. But then he checked up with other jinchūriki via ANBU. They hadn't been doing anything out of the ordinary either.

So who did it?

It caused stress, something Hiruzen wasn't unfamiliar with. What kind of dōjutsu had a _blue iris_? The Byakugan could be related, but Naruto's eyes did not have that kind of "feel". It fluctuated its power, something the Sharingan did when activated. But Naruto's eyes weren't activated. Hell, he even asked Hiashi to look and see whether or not it was activated.

Not even a teensy stream of chakra showed. It was like it had its own power—individual to chakra.

The _real_ question was _what_ it was.

* * *

Naruto enjoyed his time with his eyes. He finally got to see what Teuchi and Ayame looked like; Ayame was pretty, he could admit that. He saw Sakura for the first time—she was semi pretty in his opinion, but he couldn't find himself being her admirer. Same went for Ino and Tenten, too…

"U-um…Naruto-kun…"

He turned his head to Hinata, who was sitting next to him. She was a different story. Her admiration and love for him was pretty obvious, he could tell even when he had no eyes. She was pretty as well; but she was still growing, so he would imagine her to be even more pretty—gorgeous, even—in her mid to late teens. He smiled. "Yes?"

"I-I was wondering…" she stammered. "A-are you guys i-in the Chūnin Exams…?"

Naruto paused. He frowned. "I'm not sure," he mumbled as he practically breathed in some more ramen. He gestured Teuchi for another, "I can ask Kakashi-sensei. Why? Were you enrolled?"

"N-no…" Hinata murmured. "But it's coming up in a week or s-so…I-I was just wondering."

"I think it'd be nice," he said. "I also think it'd be cool. First year rookies—enrolled into the Chūnin Exams! Dattebayo!"

Hinata smiled in amusement, but it was quickly gone when Neji suddenly entered the restaurant, his expression practically dead and flat. It made Naruto cringe ever so slightly. "Hinata-sama," he nodded in respect towards her before continuing. "Kurenai-sensei wants to see you. She has news for you."

She nodded timidly, practically shuffling out of the restaurant with her cousin following after sending a brief glare at the blonde boy whom was conversing with her before. Naruto cringed in annoyance before his face scrunched up in annoyance. "He just ignored me like I was a freaking ghost! What the heck…"

Ayame simply giggled in amusement before collecting some ryō from her favorite customer, waving him a farewell before returning to her work with organizing and cleaning the dishes.

* * *

"Iruka-sensei."

Iruka looked up from the book he was reading, Naruto walking in from the front door. The boy's brow furrowed before he spoke with his sensei and practical father. "The Exams…they're coming up. Do you think it'll be appropriate to enroll, even if I was a rookie?"

The jōnin blinked, obviously dumbfounded for a few moments before he finally got what Naruto was getting out. "I don't know. On a scale of one to ten, how doubtful are you?"

"My number isn't even on the scale. I'm a hundred percent sure that I can do it."

"And what about Sasuke and Sakura? Do you think they're capable?"

"…I can rate that at ten…quadrillion; I'm extremely doubtful on both of their behalves," Naruto stated as he plopped onto the couch across from Iruka.

They had no TV, so they had to arm chairs, and two couches parallel to each other, a glass table and a neat brown rug to accompany the middle of the room. The kitchen was in the next room, blocked off from the rest of the house through a glass sliding door. One could call it fancy until they rest their eyes upon Naruto's room; it was like living inside of a neon tinted orange.

"The Chūnin Exams is a team thing," Iruka pointed out. "And even if you were enrolled on your own, you'd be placed on a two-man team, a majority of which are complete strangers to you. I was placed on a _foreign_ team of two, both women who hated working with men. They were partially the reason why I couldn't pass the second time…"

"I could care less," Naruto grumbled.

"Alright, grumpy pants…"

"I'm not grumpy, 'ttebayo."

"Then stop acting like it," Iruka scolded in amusement. "How about you converse with Kakashi about this? He's your guys' sensei at the moment, and he knows your capability much better than I do…as much as I hate to admit it…"

Naruto smiled in amusement. "You totally envy him."

"I don't," the older shinobi murmured. "It's just…I…"

"Feel jealous that he took over your status as the awesome and brilliant Naruto-sama's sensei?"

"…Don't exaggerate," Iruka dead panned. "And yeah, I guess you could say that…"

The boy giggled, but his amusement quickly faded as the conversation ended, causing a rather awkward silence to follow. Iruka went back to reading, leaving Naruto to ponder over whatever was on his mind.

As of now, it was mainly his newly found possible dōjutsu. He couldn't help but feel…like a bedlam. Everything was confusing. Just plain and blunt confusion. In a way, he shared Hiruzen's unvoiced concerns. Who would want to give a jinchūriki _power_? And suspenseful power at that.

On a near daily basis, he felt a slight pinch in his eyes, like he stared at a lamp for way too long. He had done that, even though he only had his eyes for a little over a week. It was that one little pinch that made him uneasy. He started feeling it three days after the assault. On day four, Hiashi had come under Hiruzen's command to check it out.

The results, he knew, were unexpected and unexplained.

It was weird. Why would a Hyūga—the strongest one, at that—have to examine his eyes? He knew that they were a possible new dōjutsu, but one would never scan _anything_ with a Byakugan without first being suspicious of danger or threat. He had seen it happen before.

He paused his psych's wander for a second. Dangers and threats…

_That could never happen…not on my watch…_

The pinch ended up becoming stronger in the following weeks.

* * *

**Yay! Another chapter! It doesn't meet my expectations of chapter word counts, but that doesn't mean shit right now.**

**And I'm glad all these people followed and favorited my story. It makes me so happy.**

**Yes, slight indications of NaruHina this chapter. But Naruto's opinion of all the other girls could possibly ignite a three-way relationship between Ayame, Naruto and Hinata in the future. But that's like saying the sky can turn bright green at the snap of my fingers: Impossible. It's a huge maybe, but NaruHina will definitely become the main pairing of this story, so I'll be changing a few things.**

**Also, another thing I would like to point out. Some of you, in those two-fist sized brains of yours, are wondering in the way way way far back corner of your minds why the Kyūbi didn't regenerate Naruto's eyes sooner. Well, eyes are an organ. It's impahssible to regenerate an organ, even for a bijū like the Ichibi and Ky****ūbi. Mainly because you'd have to "re-write" the DNA code, genetics code, chromosomes, nerves and all that other optical eye shit. But this is my logic, ya'll don't have to agree to it.**

**Okay, I'm done ranting.**

**R&amp;R**

**Peace! :3**


	3. Eidolon

**HAHA I AM BACK BITCHES.**

**I'm super sorry for the longest of waits…this account was on Hiatus due to the inconvenience of school and working on my second account. I recently got into school soccer and wreck league soccer…so more of my time has been taken up. Fun.**

**Chapters will be significantly longer. They should be around 3k, with the minimum being 2.7k. Pretty good number, I guess. This one is 3k+**

**The One Who Is Bound, a story on my Dreaming of a Black Fox account, was the reason for this story's hiatus. It's been done and over with for almost a year, and I've been working on many other stories. One of those stories that I'm planning on releasing will be having 10k+ long chapters and feelsy time travel with a bucket of more feelz.**

**I HAVE ALSO DECIDED THE FOCUSED PAIRING. I HAVE ALSO GOT MY SHIT TOGETHER ENOUGH TO WRITE ROMANCE WHICH IS A TOTAL LIE.**

**…**

**It's gonna be NaruHina.**

**LunarBabe: Most definitely :D Thanks for your review :3**

**Reign Of Sorrow: Ayy :3**

**The Flaming Darkness: Aw, thanks ^.^ it should get cooler later on…:3**

**bhdragons: Here's a longer chapter :^)**

**Mejciu: Plan I have, yes. Review I thank you for :3**

**OSR fanatic: Haha, too true XD Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the bloodline thing. I have a complex overthought explanation for that with lots of plotty science and big words. Thanks for your review :3**

**gummy b3ars: Updated :^)**

**Enjoy! :3**

* * *

_Chapter 2: Eidolon_

* * *

Naruto wasn't very happy with the Sandaime—or even his sensei, for that matter. He could see that Sasuke and Sakura were as well, and evidentially some immature blame was placed upon his being as a catalyst for frustration.

They were rejected for the Chūnin Exams.

It wasn't predicted. Naruto felt ready, because the pinch in his eyes were slowly "fading"—he was getting used to them—and he felt fluent with his visual prowess.

Hiruzen and Kakashi disagreed.

He was "too verdant". He was "weakened by the forced implant". His eyes were "too dangerous". He needed "more visual training". He wasn't "prepared to see the horrors of the battlefield".

The sound of a bone snapping in two rang throughout the nightly training ground as the blonde twelve year olds fist landed upon the wooden post. Naruto felt the words get to his head, anger negating the pain of a broken bone. He knew that the beast inside of him would heal it as time went forward…

But still. How could he be so _verdant_? Mellowing his prowess like this…don't villages want their jinchūriki to climb the ladder of power as quickly as possible?

It made no sense to him. He was _fine_. He was a shinobi, so he _had_ to be fine. He was going to protect what he had, whether it be himself or friends, so being _fine_ both mentally and physically was something required in order to stand strong.

Naruto sighed, pulling his fist away from the post. He grabbed his broken arm gently, sitting down and staring at it. It was already swollen, the visuals of a shattered arm flashing across his mind's eye on and off.

He's already seen it in X-rays during his hospital time.

He sat like that until the early sun tinged the dark sky's with its holy light, turning the world around him a grey shade. The sky was slowly lightening, but it didn't distract Naruto from the throbbing pinch in his new eyes.

It was only two days away that the exams would officially start, and that pissed Naruto off even more. That meant that today was the deadline for submissions.

It required three genin signatures who promised to work as a peaceful team and one authorized shinobi overseer, or their team sensei, to sign for approval. It also required a nomination from the official team sensei, straight from jōnin all the way to Kage—face-to-face.

Naruto really didn't want to go for being in the stands. Sitting, watching and pointlessly cheering while two shinobi unequally fight to what could be their death wasn't in his book.

Or some sort of thing of the likes.

The Uzumaki could only cast that aside for future things to think about when he was to sulk in the ramen stand, but he was busy with a genin-only team meeting at the training grounds where his team assembled for the first time tactfully. The trio were sitting by the stream in a circle, staring at one another.

"What'd you call us here for?" Sakura complained. She yawned for the umpteenth time, rubbing her dry eyes. "It's too early for this. What time is it? Six?"

"Five," Sasuke corrected. "I woke up early for training, not for meeting with the useless lady of our team and the arrogant blonde who can't tell what a dragonfly is by sight."

Sakura glared.

Naruto blinked. The blonde shook his head though. "I don't care," he stated bluntly. "I wanna do something about not being in the exams dattebayo! I have no idea _what_, but I want to get in!"

"We _can't_," Sakura snapped, slapping Naruto's head in annoyance. "Kakashi-sensei is the only one who can nominate us. He didn't nominate us because we're the bunch with no future." She pointedly stared at him when she finished her statement.

Naruto blinked again, sighing hopelessly. The liveliness drained from his face as he slouched, losing the very little posture that he held prior. His eyes turned to Sakura slightly. "I wonder why."

"Why are you blaming _me_?" she seethed. Her fists balled into viscous weapons, teeth grinding as an evil look settled on her face that promised a beating.

"I never said that!" Naruto exclaimed as he regained life.

"You two are holding me back," Sasuke suddenly accused, "because you can't stop arguing about who's fault it is. Why would they hold back an _Uchiha_ because their teammate had a surgery merely weeks ago?"

"The painfully obviousness of finger-pointing will be the humorous death of me," Naruto deadpanned. He rolled his strange eyes, huffing and crossing his arms. "It's not my fault, okay? I didn't force eyes into my own empty sockets dattebayo."

Sasuke crossed his arms, dark eyes narrowing irritably. "That doesn't matter. The exams start in _two_ days—_forty-eight_ hours, and today is the ultimate deadline."

"We should just give up," Sakura grumped, flopping on her back with a hopeless sigh. "Or try to persuade Sandaime-sama or Kakashi-sensei with their lovely porn books to get us in…"

"Burning Icha Icha won't do any good," the Uchiha debated. "Kakashi-sensei is loyal, and seriously bribing him to get us into the exams without official qualifications being met will make us rogues."

Naruto nodded his agreement. The pinching in his eyes returned mellowly and started to become annoying, close to giving him an anormal headache like it did earlier. He crossed his arms, leaning forward with a sigh. "Wouldn't want that 'ttebayo…"

"They'll be holding the events every four months, though," Sasuke stated helpfully. He huffed. "But I honestly don't want to wait that long. My older brother reached chūnin at the age of ten. Not thirteen."

"Age doesn't matter," Naruto pointed out. "Remember Haku? He was as strong as Kakashi-sensei, despite being years younger…"

"…Looking back on that mission, I'm starting to doubt whether or not you're human," Sasuke grumbled. She sat up, a tease-worthy expression stretching her lips and narrowing her eyes. "What—are you an alien coming from outer space or something? 'Cause those wounds you sustained were _ridiculous_!"

"Well, Uzumaki _are_ known for having godlike stamina…" Sasuke pointed out.

"Tomato, tom-ah-toe!" Sakura shot back with a cheeky grin. She waved her hand back and forth.

The Uchiha rolled his eyes, crossing his arms tightly and staring at the ground in between the trio.

Naruto signed loudly again, followed by a yawn. "Well…we can't do anything about the exams if that's the case dattebayo. All we can actually do is sit on the sidelines and complain. I don't really want to get sensei or jiji in trouble for cheating us in…even though it'd be nice if they did 'ttebayo…" The distressed scratch on the back of his neck showed that he wasn't content with his closing choice.

"We could always explore and experiment with those eyes of yours to pass the time," Sasuke suggested randomly. He tried to stop it from showing, but curiosity shone in his coal black eyes. "They're strange. I've never heard of them from the history books from my clan or the academy library."

"The only interesting thing about these stupid eyes are the fact that their annoying pinches give me headaches," he grumbled.

"And your iris's are blue," Sakura chimed. "That's interesting…y'know?"

Naruto simply grunted.

"Ha—look over there!" a interruptive taunting voice called out from the fence. "It's the genin that were never nominated! Haha! Are you guys gonna become eternal genin?! Because it looks like it! Hey! I bet I could pass—and I'm a full five years younger! Take _that_!"

The team of young pre-adolescents turned their heads towards the fence where the training grounds started. A young child, looking wild with a small fluffy pup following him, had his fingers wrapped around the twisted wires of the fence. He had red arrows arranged on his face, dirt under his unruly nails and smudged on his knees.

"An Inuzuka," Naruto said in disappointment.

"How mundane," Sakura agreed.

Sasuke nodded darkly. "Hn."

"How dare he disgrace his clan by talking down to his fellow senior comrades 'ttebayo."

"Yeah, he'll never pass the exams like that…"

"Hn."

"Should Hana-san know of this?"

"Preferably."

"Hn."

"He looks like Kiba. A close cousin, I reckon?"

"That makes the punishment worse.

"Hn."

The young child glared, baby fangs shining pathetically in the early morning light. "Shut up! I'll show you! You stupid punks! Just watch!" He shouted his declaring last words very loudly before sprinting off in the original direction he came from.

"…That punk…" Sakura seethed. "I wanted to beat my frustration in him! Shannarō!"

"Calm down," Sasuke mumbled. Though his face was fading from red and irritated, he continued with a straight voice. "Anyways, back to the topic of experimentation—"

Naruto suddenly yawned. "You guys formulate some sort of elaborate Kage-level intelligence plan regarding that. I'm gonna eat and sleep. I didn't get a wink of Z's all night, and I haven't eaten ramen since yesterday evening 'ttebayo."

Sasuke glared in irritation. "Usuratonkachi."

The blonde glared back, standing up and leaving with his eyes still glaring at his rival and teammate. It stayed that way until he was back in the village, strolling his way through the busy streets. He was staring and observing as usual, getting strange or annoyed looks from it. Naruto could tell visitors or newcomers from natives or residents because of it.

A kindly woman, a mother of three from the looks of the three young children playing by her cart, offered him a nice deal for sunglasses—since it was getting close to the summertime. He didn't have any money or need for sunglasses, and he rejected the offer.

He was quick to get away from her too, and she seemed to have noticed.

Typically the visitors and newcomers get the news feed that he's a monster, but civilians wouldn't say that he's a jinchūriki.

Simply because, in a vast majority of their eyes, he was in no way a human sacrifice. He was "the monster in human skin".

Naruto reached the ramen stand with big smiles and loud greetings, sitting in his usual spot right smack in the middle of the stand.

"You seem happy, Naruto-kun," Ayame said. She smiled. "Did you get into the exams?"

Instantly, the light, jolly air turned into a heavy, sulking one. Naruto slumped over, his forehead against the counter with a loud groan from both his throat and stomach. "No…"

Ayame frowned. "Oh, that's a bummer. What happened?"

"Well, to be fair," Teuchi cut in as he put a bowl of ramen out, "he only got out of surgery a mere three weeks ago. His eyes and brain are still adjusting, and he still needs to be visually exposed to certain things. He needs to learn how to write using eyes. Plus, genin are put into that dangerous forest training ground that has giant death creatures."

Naruto cringed, regaining crappy posture. He grabbed some chopsticks. "You mean Shi no Mori."

Teuchi smiled and nodded.

"Itadakimasu, dattebayo!" Naruto quickly dug into the ramen, going through three bowls before he heard the familiar sounds only Hyūga Hinata would make.

"O-oh, t-there you are…N-Naruto-kun," she stuttered out, entering the stand timidly.

He turned his head towards her, chewing on some noodles. "Hi, Hinata-chan!" he chimed with an awkward grin.

She blushed, shyly sitting a seat away from him. "U-um…d-did you get into the e-exams?" she asked.

Naruto swallowed, sighing in discontent. "No…my eyes aren't _ready_, apparently," he replied irritably. "I feel ready, and I know what a majority of things look like now dattebayo."

Hinata frowned. "W-well…Kakashi-sensei and S-Sandaime-sama must be worried about you…" she pointed out quietly. She nervously ordered some ramen before she resumed to stating her point. "S-surely they know what t-they're doing…a-after all, they're older…a-and the Hokage has been through m-many wars. S-so his judgement m-must be fine-tuned…r-right?"

The blonde sighed, soaking in her words. They were full of truth, and he couldn't deny that, otherwise he'd live up to Sasuke's name calling and become the blind arrogant blonde. "True," he grumbled. A pout formed on his lips. "But _still_! I wanna become a chūnin…"

Ayame blinked. "The exams will still be here in four months again."

"I know that!" Naruto exclaimed. He slurped up the rest of the ramen. "But I gotta climb up to the top and gain acknowledgement dattebayo! Teuchi-san, another one!"

Hinata blushed, and continued eating her ramen with a racing mind.

* * *

Six days have sper by since the exams started, and the teams that passed the first exam went to Shi no Mori. After the next boring few days, there was an update coming from Hinata—who had managed to make it to the third and final round—that in one month, genin would be plotted against one another in a one-on-one public fight. The Hokage would be there, and there was a rumor that the Kazekage would be attending.

Typically, those types of rumors were true. Otherwise they wouldn't be floating about.

Throughout the slow oncoming weeks, Kakashi trained Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura individually every other day. One day it would be Sasuke, the next would be Naruto and then Sakura—and then a repeat. Naruto was given many visual tests for visual memory, learning, recognition and stability. He didn't mention the pinching during any of those tests, though. Mainly because he kept forgetting due to his lightning thoughts, but also because he saw no point in bringing it up.

As arrogant as it was, he found out that the pinching was connected to his state of emotions and thoughts. Negative emotions and thoughts were connected to a throbbing pinch that typically caused headaches, while the more positive thoughts and emotions made it kind of stop and fade away.

He figured it out after the exams started, because for every time he thought about it and became frustrated he gained a headache. When he was eating ramen, spending time with Iruka or talking to his friends, the throbbing was very calm and soft, sounding like a distant heartbeat every now and then.

He was feeling the distant softness as he dozed on the couch of the apartment he and Iruka lived in. It was nearing towards the end of week number two of training, and he was exhausted. Mainly because the "homework" Kakashi gave him was ridiculous. He had to memorize the visuals as to how chakra was molded. There was an entire book on it, with lots of pictures.

Naruto was to draw out five pictures from the book using visual memory. It wasn't impossible, but it felt like it.

The blonde rolled over, his frontal self facing the couch cushions. A blanket was put over his body by Iruka, and he felt himself drift. But he sensed movement right outside the apartment, forcing him out of the doze. He dexited to keep his eyes closed, and listened as the doorbell rang.

Iruka answered it, finding it to be Kakashi. "Oh, senpai. Hello," he greeted kindly with the slight dip of respect. "What brings you here? Do you wanna come in?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, please," he said. He stepped into the apartment, kicking off his zori and setting them aside. Iruka stepped into the kitchen, which had no wall to cut itself off from the living room where Naruto was, and the entrance of the apartment.

They sat down, and started their business.

"I came to you about Naruto," Kakashi murmured.

Iruka instantly became attentive. He made sure to keep his voice down in hopes of not "awakening" the blonde. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing bad," Kakashi assured. "But…his development with his eyes is going good…a little…_too_ good, maybe…"

The younger shinobi frowned. "That doesn't sound right…"

"Exactly my point," the Hatake stated. "It's acting like a dōjutsu, too."

Iruka's frown deepened. "Dōjutsu's _act_?"

Kakashi nodded. "It's different for all of them, but his 'acts' more like the Byakugan, but there are remnants of the actions of a Sharingan."

"I don't get it."

The Hatake smiled in amusement. "Their chakra. That's what I'm referring to," he stated.

"Oh."

"Anyways, a Byakugan's chakra pulses. Sharingan fluctuates and sends external power out in waves," the silver haired man explained. "Thus an 'act'. But…Naruto's eyes do it internally—within his entire chakra system. They don't give anything external. Pulsing waves of fluctuating internal power flies around his tenkutsu of his eyes and brain, which might actually cause headaches of a sort. When he wakes up, ask if he feels any pain in his head or eyes…the theory might be proven correct, and we can officially and safely assume that he has a mutated dōjutsu."

Iruka looked down. "Okay…and if it _is_ a…mutated dōjutsu? What then?"

Alarmingly, Kakashi grew smug. He chuckled evilly. "We'll have to put him in some sort of large scale danger zone and give him chūnin field promotion…it'll make it more convenient to send him out to learn and discover more about his dōjutsu, assuming there is information out there."

The young chūnin stayed silent, but as the long, stretching moments passed, he eventually nodded. "But will he be put in danger on purpose?"

"Maa…Suna has been making suspicious moves lately." There were passing seconds of silence. But before it could reach the sixtieth second mark, Kakashi hummed to himself. He stood, turning away to leave. "It'll be an adventure, Umino. Look forward to it."

"…Yeah. Sure will."

The door opened, closed, and Naruto felt his sensei walk away casually.

But even so, he couldn't stop the excitement from rising. _A promotion…_

(True sleep fell upon him, and that was all he could dream of for many hours).

* * *

**Improvement :^)**

**Drop an opinion. Was this chapter length satisfying? The only reason why the last two were 1,555 words was cuz they were at the exact same word count.**

**But now I am smart cookie.**

**Peace! :3**


	4. Tumult

**Holy explosion. I didn't think that the follower and review count would explode so much in under a week. ****This is new.**

**i am ok wit dis**

**dis is a-ok**

**Anyways, inspiration for this chapter came easy, so I thought why not post now? I had a four day weekend to finish this and contemplate this story's future. Some of your reviews made parts of the resolution more solid, but because of it more warnings have come.**

**so**

**_NEW WARNINGS_: fake!MinaKushi, Kaguya/Minato, NaruHina, stronger!heroine!Hinata, strong!smarter!Tenseigan!Naruto, half-Hyūga!Minato, LGBTQA characters, CONFUSING SCIENCE, blood, violence, some OOCness, language, surrogacy (y'all are gonna understand later) and lots of PLOT FORESHADOWING.**

**I've answered all of your reviews over PMing, but there are some who brought up good points that I think should be answered publicly :^) it'd take too long to answer every single review publicly like I normally do, and I'm bummed out about it.**

**AJGuardian: Naruto's chakra cloak will be brought in a little bit later. As of now, it will remain as an unknown since the Tenseigan is a complete mystery to the current shinobi world. As for Naruto being Ashura's reincarnation: That will also be addressed later on. Rethinking over some things, though. Naruto might now even be Ashura's reincarnation, seeing as to how things are going. Thanks for your review. :3**

**Ryuujin96: I was kind of bummed out, too, since the Chūnin exams arc was one of the better arcs in my opinion. But I will be making up for it, I believe, with the oncoming events. Thanks for your review :^)**

**Original chapter word count: 4k~**

**Enjoy! :3**

* * *

_Chapter 3: Tumult_

* * *

The next morning after Naruto eavesdropped on Iruka and Kakashi, he got up earlier than usual in order to finish the last touches to the pictures, editing pencil lines and outlining them with ease.

He heard Iruka wake up. The shuffles of a human getting out of bed in order to get dressed made him turn his head towards the hall that lead to the bedrooms of the apartment. It was only about a minute or two later that Iruka stepped out of his room and into the main living area of the apartment. The man instantly went to the coffee machine, getting a cup in anticipation of caffine.

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"You're up early," Iruka commented.

"Yup," the blonde mumbled. He switched from a thin pen to a slightly thicker one, refining some lines before signing his name on the back and setting the pen aside.

"…You draw?"

"Nah, sensei just assigned the homework to me," Naruto replied. He pouted. "I hate homework…"

Iruka smiled nostalgically. "What was it for?"

"Visual memory," the blonde explained. He flopped onto his back, yawning loudly. The obvious fatigue replaced his focus, and he ended up looking like a tired baby. "I'm pooped now…I haven't looked away from the page for nearly an hour 'ttebayo…"

The Umino chuckled, pressing some buttons before the machine worked its magic to make some refreshing coffee. "Speaking of your sensei…" he started, "he stopped by yesterday and spoke with me. He wants me to ask you if you have any throbbing headaches or pinches that come from your eyes."

"Why?"

"I don't know the full story, and I don't really understand it, but it has to do with whether or not your eyes can be categorized as a dōjutsu," he explained.

Naruto slowly sat up, staring at the drawing he finished only simple minutes ago. If he told the truth, then he could be pushed somewhat forward a little bit faster and get that field promotion.

But if it was, perhaps, a dōjutsu that were within his sockets, then it would be both a danger and a benefit. Danger meant restriction, while benefit meant freedom. He hated paradoxes. There really was no point in lying, though. Telling the truth would get him further from his current standing. "…Well, I always feel it," Naruto stated. "It never goes away. It only gets stronger or weaker."

Iruka blinked in surprise. "Seriously?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I didn't know why, though, and I just assumed that it was because of the surgery, but then when it wouldn't go away I had no idea what to do about it."

"You could've said something…" the older shinobi murmured.

The Uzumaki didn't reply at first. He just started cleaning up his work space, putting the drawings in a file and the pens to the side a little. "No thank you," he said. He stood, turning away towards the door. He slipped his shoes on, glancing at his guardian with an apathetic look. "I'm going to meet up with Kakashi-sensei. I'll be attending to the finales with Sasuke and Sakura later today, so I don't think I'll be back until dinner dattebayo. Bye."

Iruka could only watch as the blonde opened the door, stepping out and abruptly closing the door behind his heels with an air of irritation that could be sensed strongly even as he ventured towards the grounds were Kakashi always awaited for his students.

* * *

"You look upset."

The comment from Kakashi made Naruto's eye twitch. The day was leaping from a good foot, and then it just went bad the instant Iruka pushed the conversation from earlier a little too far. He rolled his eyes. "I'm not. I'm just tired dattebayo," he grumbled.

"Oh? Did you cram your work?" Kakashi teased. His eye crinkled as he offered his signature nicknamed eye smile. He grabbed the file that was tucked under Naruto's arm exceptionally fast, making the blonde stutter and try to snatch back the file. It was opened, and the first drawings was examined.

Naruto leaped at his teacher with his fist aiming for the silver haired mans head. "_Hey_—"

Kakashi caught the blondes fist, ducking as a roundhouse kick was served. He kept hold of Naruto's fist, slamming the jinchūriki onto his back before stepping on his chest. "Quiet, minion," he ordered. The verbal and physical struggle demonstrated by the blonde was real, and was quite amusing. But the amusement disappeared unnoticeably as he went on going through the drawings.

They were the perfect copies.

His eye narrowed. No matter how many times he looked over the drawings, there wasn't a splotch of ink or an extra unnecessary thick line. The kanji, katakana and hiragana were all on point, matching exact placements, line and thickness.

It was _amazing_.

Kakashi took his foot off of Naruto, slapping the file shut. He gave another eye smile. "Well, now that your homework has been checked off, I have a quick question for you," he said.

Naruto sat up, wiping the dirt off. His sensei crouched down to his level, the file tucked under his arm. The blonde frowned and looked into the indifferent eye of Kakashi with a frown. "What 'ttebayo?"

"Do you feel a pinch in your eyes?" he questioned, leaning in to the point of where Naruto could feel the comfortable body heat the man was emitting.

He grimaced, backing his head away. "Why?"

"Just answer the question."

Naruto huffed, readjusting his sitting position. He crossed his legs and arms, an annoyed look plastering his face. "I feel it all the time," he grumbled. "It never goes away. It's either here with a headache or barely noticeable."

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "How come you never said anything?"

The Uzumaki stared ahead at the floor. There was a certain level of trust in between him and the Hatake. The duo could keep their secrets, Kakashi as an individual jōnin and Naruto as a loner. They mutually knew this, picking it up over time. The relationship Naruto shared with Iruka was more restricted. The blonde never liked sharing things that could hold him back. Telling Iruka would result in what he feared most.

"Are you going to answer?" Kakashi asked impatiently.

Naruto narrowed his strange eyes, his brow furrowing as his mind gears started flowing. "I don't like telling anyone about it," he responded. "It'd hold me back, right 'ttebayo? I mean, you all decided that you would hold me back from the exams because of the surgery. That's obviously not the reason dattebayo."

The Hatake stared. "True," he murmured. He patted Naruto's mop of bright hair, offering (yet again) another stupid eye smile. "Maa, maa…it'll get better. The real reason why we held you back was because of those eyes. They're strong and mysterious, which makes it dangerous. But it's most definitely a dōjutsu. By answering the question, we can roughly rule out its raw power."

Naruto blinked, looking at his sensei with a deeper frown. "Okay…how _strong_ is my dōjutsu, then?"

Kakashi unpredictably let a chuckle go. He stood up, grabbing his underling's shirt collar and pulling him up to his feet. "Most definitely stronger than the Sharingan. That much I can say."

Naruto blinked in surprise and stared up at his sensei. The irritating throbbing turned into a dull feeling, and suddenly his entire being felt a little bit more at peace than usual.

(But a tiny voice in the back of his head went against it.)

* * *

It was around noon when Naruto was sent to find Sasuke and Sakura. The blonde found Sasuke in the Uchiha compound reading some history scrolls, and Sakura at her house. They caught up, ate, and finally made their way through the busy streets, not stopping to buy any merchandise that people were trying to sell. Various visotopes and residents were heading in the same direction, their origin country rather obvious to the trio.

The stands were half full when the team arrived. Kakashi was already there, sitting next to some other jōnin and genin. When they joined the group, Sakura and Ino were quick to start catching up to talk. Meanwhile Sasuke stayed a lone wolf, and Naruto simply sat by his sensei.

Naruto could hear so many sounds and see even the birds fly overhead in alarming detail. He couldn't say if it was normal or not, but being able to see the every line on a feather from the native Hi no Kuni bird didn't seem like it.

He looked down at the genin below in the fighting ring. He saw Hyūga Neji, Hyūga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru, Kankuro, Tenten and Sabaku no Gaara. Behind them was the finals overseer, Hayate.

He was a tokubetsu jōnin, if the blonde remembered correctly.

Naruto blinked, scanning the crowd around him. He got some rude glares from native residents, but they were blatantly ignored as he continued to look. He spotted many familiar chakras, both civilian and shinobi. (A civilian's chakra signature was significantly weaker, but it could still be detected.) There was also a scarily familiar chakra he's felt before. It wasn't exactly what he clearly remembered feeling, but it was very similar.

He would've gotten up to investigate if he wasn't interrupted.

"Hey, look! It's Naruto, my Youthful Rival! Nice to see you—it's been quite some time, has it not!?"

The respectful voice pulled the blonde back to the irritating reality. He turned his head towards Rock Lee, who had been put into crutches thanks to Gaara. Gai had told Kakashi of the event, and Kakashi had told his "vilely cute genin team" about it. He blinked. "Yup," he agreed. "How are you feeling, by the way? You seem to be doing much better."

Lee gave a thumbs up with a loud, sparkly grin. But the depression was rather obvious to the questioner. "I'm feeling youthfully better! Thanks for asking!"

Naruto could only blink again. He didn't respond right away, since he was thinking of a road that Lee could go down without crutches. Only an advanced medic could do that, and the most advance of the current living was Senju Tsunade. He turned his head back to the flat land where the fights would take place. "Who're you cheerin' for 'ttebayo?"

"My good Youthful Rival, I cheer for all of them!" Lee proclaimed. "However, both of my team mates made it, so I shall cheer for them youthfully."

The blonde couldn't stop cringing. No matter what the conversation was spoken of in between Rock Lee and another, or Maito Gai and another, there was always to be a "_youthful_" comment.

"Wanna go to the very front, then? I'm betting that Hinata's gonna get to the final round, and we can get a front seat to watch it happen dattebayo," Naruto stated. He kept his voice relatively loud so then the surrounding shinobi and civilian's could hear. It was comical to listen volumes hitch or completely stop when he said it, and from here even a half blind dog could see Hinata's face go beat red.

Lee grinned brightly, ridiculously white teeth making white spots dance across Naruto's line of vision. "Very well! Quite a bet, my Youthful Rival! We shall see how it goes!"

By the time they reached the front of the stands, Hayate started telling the procedures of rules that Naruto ignored. The crowd saw this, and it all became bearable in volume. All of the genin, excluding Hinata and Neji, took their leave to a door that lead to a place Naruto did not know of.

Hayate raised his arm, calling for silence that was obeyed within seconds. "First match, round one, fought by Hyūga Hinata and Hyūga Neji! Killing is prohibited for the entirety of the finale, and shall not be tolerated or encouraged by the crowd!" he announced. "Battle limit is fifteen minutes!" His dark eyes scanned the area, and his arm went straight down. "Start!"

The proctor backed away, and the crowd started anticipating.

Naruto leaned forward slightly, his eyes becoming focused. He watched as chakra flooded into their eyes, pulsing out power in waves. Their veins popped up, and they instantly got into a Hyūga taijutsu fight. They matched power foot to foot, chin to chin and face to face.

Lee seemed impressed. "She's gotten stronger," he commented. "I'm glad to see that she's raced past her limits…"

Naruto noticed it, too. Her movements were more fluid and tight, showing elegance in her every strike. She was very focused, and the way her shoulders were squared showed that she had gained a little bit more confidence, and that she had a goal to accomplish.

The blonde Uzumaki tipped his head with a frown. One who lacks confidence needs a booster. _So who was _Hinata's_ booster…?_

Naruto watched in surprise as both Hyūga's clashed in a final punch, each catching it. But Neji, having superior muscles, pushed the heir back a little, head butting her mercilessly. Hinata stumbled away in a dizzy mess of surprise, not processing the kick that was aimed at her chest fast enough in time to dodge it.

She lost her breath and rolled away, quickly getting up. She got into another defensive stance, panting heavily to regain the breath she lost.

Neji didn't, though. He simply glared into the eyes of his cousin, pulling out a kunai. His knuckled wrapped around it, quick to turn white with rage. "How could such a _weakling_ like you get so _strong_ in such a short period of time?" he seethed. "Did you find some sort of hack in your special main branch library to oppress me, a branch member of the Hyūga, again?"

Lee frowned in disapproval. "Here he goes again. This is not very youthful of Neji at all."

Hinata's shoulder's dropped, eyes wide with hurt. It was obvious that the mention of the oppression of branch members hit a sensitive spot, and it allowed a hole in her defenses. "I-I would—"

Neji rolled his clear lavender eyes. "Don't try to lie to me, Hinata-sama. This seal on my forehead…you're probably going to use it just like your father," he snarled. His eyes narrowed ferociously. "Do you wish to kill me, you _failure_…? To oppress me…to make me withdraw into myself? To make me die as a catalyst for _your_ frustration?"

Hinata winced. Her hands were trembling, and her eyes were becoming glassy.

Naruto felt rage boil over. His teeth scraped together. "Your team mate is a bastard dattebayo," he teemed.

The anger Naruto felt made his voice quiet, a quaking fear instilling itself into Lee. The older genin straightened up, realizing that Neji probably was going to get a verbal beating. Lee blinked nervously. "U-uh…N-Naruto—"

Naruto ignored Lee.

He glared down at Neji, the throbbing in his eyes becoming a painful headache that made him more irritated by the second. "_Hey_—you!" he shouted. "_Neji_!" The eld Hyūga didn't bat an eyelash at the call of his name. But the Uzumaki could feel the watch of the Byakugan stare him down. The former gritted his teeth together even harder. "Just _shut up_! Or you'll _never_ get a chūnin promotion if you keep beating _your_ comrade down because _you_ feel so _weak_! Hinata _isn't_ a failure dattebayo!"

Neji's head snapped up to the Uzumaki. He glared up at him, burning anger making his hands shake. "What would _you_ know about being weak?" he retorted.

Naruto sneered. "_Plenty_."

"_Jūken_!"

Neji was quick to react, but he couldn't fully dodge Hinata's attack. The technique hit his arm, but that was all. However, it will prove to be a hindrance later on; that was a known fact.

It was obvious that Naruto blinded him enough with anger to make it so that there would be a brief opening in his line of sight. Smarter people could see this, and they honestly were shocked. Most people knew Hyūga Neji, a genius, to be cool-headed and foolproof.

Never had he been seen so compelled to lose all things adequate.

The fight continued, and dragged on for another few restless minutes. Naruto managed to cool himself down, but his headache remained.

Eventually the duo backed away from one another. Hinata was drenched in sweat, battered and exhausted. Neji was simply battered, but that was it. His arm was loosely hanging, though. Naruto couldn't sense any chakra flowing in it, either, and decided to question just what Hinata's technique did later.

At that point of time in the battle, one vital hit was needed, and one of them would be the winner.

The clock was ticking, too. Eight minutes had already passed, and they only had seven minutes left over in order to complete the match.

Naruto watched closely, cheering on Hinata when she was knocked to the ground by a kick or clumsy dodge. The routine lasted for a full minute before Hinata finally jabbed at Neji using Jūken once more.

However, Neji ducked. He pulled his remaining arm back, using Jūken for the first time during the fight. His arm jabbed forward, and Naruto felt his blood go cold as he connected the dots as to where Neji was aiming.

Hinata was so very lucky that her strike pulled her body to a more diagonal position, making it so that Neji's Jūken hit the general area of her heart instead of the vital organ itself.

Naruto's eyes widened, his mouth drying up as the attack connected completely. "That's…"

Lee was honestly surprised, too. He never thought that his team mate could pull such an fatal move on family.

Hinata coughed up blood, her Byakugan deactivating. The crowd was dead silent, unsure of what was to happen. Hayate showed himself quickly, grabbing Hinata and rushing her to the medical room. He arrived back only seconds later, coughing a few times before turning to face the crowd.

"Winner is Hyūga Neji!" he announced.

Naruto didn't hesitate to cheer like the others or to think clearly about his wild surroundings. He just turned and ran up the stairs.

"Wait—Naruto! Where are you going?!" Sakura shouted after him.

"To Hinata dattebayo!" he snapped back. He felt two more chakra signatures (easily figured out to be Sakura and Sasuke) follow him as he made his way down through the back ways towards the mini hospital in the lower quarters of the stadium.

Naruto felt something within him move. It made his heart jump up to his throat with fear, since he could just feel the maliciousness it produced between every movement. It was actually really scary, but even then he felt at peace with it. _How _dare_ he treat his family like that…_

The Uzumaki rushed into the infirmary. He saw Neji being tended to, but Hinata was nowhere to be seen.

However, a nurse was quick to approach him. She put her hands up, smiling nervously. "Young man—"

"Where's Hinata dattebayo?!" he asked rather loudly.

The nurse blinked, and instantly understood the situation. She also recognized who she was speaking to, and couldn't stop the boulder of duty slam her chest. "She's fine, sir, she's is OK. Right now our assistant shinobi is taking her to the hospital for a proper chakra and physical surgery. It's not fatal, though, so you may calm down," she assured. She put her arms on his shaking shoulders, bending down to his level to look in his frantic eyes. "She's going to live, alright? You can calm down and rest easy. Konoha's doctors and surgeons are skilled in this area."

Naruto looked back into her light grey eyes, closing his mouth and swallowing to help dry his throat. When he got a good look at her, he noticed that her grey eyes were framed by thick lashes, her pale skin giving her a creamy doll-like look. She had long, pale blue hair that was cut perfectly in a straight line at the bottom, giving her an elegant, royal look.

She smiled and straightened up, her shoulder squared proudly and her movements worthy of a queen. "My name is Momo."

He nodded. "Naruto," he simply replied. He spared a glance at Neji, who was watching at that point with a straight face. Naruto saw that his arm was in a sling, and the dirt and grit he had on his skin was gone. The blonde looked back at Momo. "Can I talk to him—_alone_—for a bit 'ttebayo?"

The sharp looks of warning stabbed his back, obviously coming from Sakura and Sasuke. But he ignored it. They wouldn't change his mind. He had some things to say to Neji.

Momo glanced back at the older ninja, and nodded. "Of course. But please let him get his rest, and keep your voice down. Some coworkers of mine are working hard in the back office," she said. She looked at Naruto's companions. "Why don't you come and help me carry some medicine? It'll be major help for future injuries."

Sasuke was hesitant, and Sakura looked like she was about the reject, but the Uchiha nodded. "Hn."

Momo smiled brightly, guiding them out of the room. "Thank you very much. You two are very kind…"

Naruto watched them leave, their voices fading away behind the closed doors. He turned his head back to the Hyūga, approaching the thirteen year old with a calmed look. There was a stretched silence, only the sounds of cheering and the feeling of chakra flaring being the factor to indicate that the world wasn't frozen.

Neji finally blinked, eyes shifting as he examined Naruto's irises and pupils. "…You have strange eyes."

Naruto blinked back, looking at Neji's injured arm. "Your ill-will towards Hinata was obvious during the fight," he said. "Why do you hate her so much?"

"Her father—_my_ uncle, is the reason why _my_ father is dead," he growled. "They were twins, but my father was the younger one. Thus, my side of the family was placed into the branch, and we were given seals. Should we do something wrong, whether it be speak to a main branch without permission, or break a plate, the seals would activate and harm us. Some have even died because of it…and my father sacrificed himself for the sake of Hiashi-sama…"

Naruto looked up at Neji, watching as the Hyūga pulled off his headband to show a mint green seal. He saw and felt chakra lace within the tattoo, digging into the mind of Neji.

The blondes eyes widened when he studied it a little bit more, his jaw slacking with a horrified reaction. He reached out, touching it. He felt the vivid vibrations of the foreign chakra underneath his finger tips. At certain spots, he could feel a stronger vibration, where more chakra was obviously at.

"…What are you doing?" Neji inquired.

Naruto ignored the question, staring harder and harder at the faded chakra within the seal. When he finally processed it all, he put his arm down and looked at the Hyūga. He regained composure, and nodded a little. "You do have every right at be angry as the main house," Naruto agreed. He tipped his head a little. "But surely Hiashi would be in despair—even now, as you speak ill of him. _Your_ father was _his_ brother dattebayo. His _twin_, even. They were probably closer than molecules of a solid, right?"

Neji glared. "And what would _you_ know about having a sibling?"

"Nothing," Naruto snapped. "But I do know that family relation, whether they be hand-in-hand or in blood, shouldn't be underestimated. It's gonna be painful, and even if siblings run at each other with killing intentions, surely it must infinitely hurt."

The Hyūga blinked in surprise, all of his dark looks disappearing. He looked down at the floor, a frown creasing his brows.

"How about you ask Hiashi about it and stop assuming," the Uzumaki advised. "You made this reality up, so now it's time to fix it and make it a truth dattebayo."

The only response Neji could reply with was brief eye contact. Naruto left, and it basically forced the Hyūga to reevaluate his morale of how his father, Hyūga Hizashi, died.

* * *

**"Jūken": "Gentle Fist"**

**I couldn't stop myself from adding in Hyūga feelz. I mean, they play an important part in this story, and if they weren't fixed then that would actually ruin a lot of my plans lol**

**I hope y'all read the new warnings. If you don't think you can handle confusing science, then PM me a question when it comes around. That'll be a little ways away, so you don't have to do it right away.**

**Anyways, Happy Valentine's Day :^)**

**Heres an omake planned on the fly.**

* * *

The ramen stand of Ichiraku, as per usual, wasn't extremely busy. However, there were four occupants eating some ramen. Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto were enjoying their time eating in silence. The only sounds was the boiling of water and the slurp of ramen noodles.

Ayame, however, broke this silence. "Hey Naruto, do you have a crush on Hinata?"

Instantly, the blonde reacted by coughing on noodles and water. The ruckus was added to when he managed to make a gross mess of a sneeze towards Sasuke's direction. In turn, Naruto gained a punch to the cheek from Sakura and a cut on his nose from it being broken thanks to the Uchiha.

Kakashi could only sigh, crossing his arms with a closed eye.

"N-n-n-n-_no_!" Naruto spluttered with a beat red face.

Sakura huffed in anger as she crossed his arms, and Sasuke looked rather green picking noodle chunks off of his arm.

Ayame laughed. "Bummer! Today would've been a good day to confess your love!"

(Meanwhile, Hinata sneezed).

* * *

**Peace! :3**


End file.
